Winners announced for Stewart Bellman Awards

The Bellman Awards, which are given in honor of the late Black Hills State University professor, Dr. Stewart Bellman, were given out to BHSU students this week. Winners of the awards are: back row, Cody Winchester, senior mass communications major from Pavillion, Wyo.; Randi Anderson, senior English major from Nisland; Kimberly Ulmen, freshman instrumental music major from Kadoka; Rachel Hendricks, freshman from Wilmot; Nicole Woolridge, junior mass communications major from Huron; and Brian Engler, freshman history major from Laconia, N.H. Front row: Allison Coin, junior English major from Presho; Ashley Rives, junior English major from Gillette, Wyo.; Dan Maher, junior business administration major from Rapid City; Leonard Crosby, junior English major from Hot Springs and Hillary Schwab, freshman biology major from Spearfish.

Black Hills State University students were recognized this week withthe Bellman awards, which are given in honor of late BHSU professor, Dr. Stewart Bellman.

Bellman was a fixture on the BHSU campus during his 30 years as a professor of English. From 1966 to 1996, Bellman was a champion of both students and faculty, and he worked tirelessly for the advancement of both. He served as president of the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English, chaired the South Dakota Humanities Council, and founded the Dakota Writing Project. He served as faculty advisor to the Green Bowl Review, a juried publication put out each spring by the BHSU English department.

In 1995 the faculty senate awarded Bellman the BHSU Distinguished Faculty Award. In nominating Bellman for this award, his colleague Steve Dempsey remarked, “His intense effort sometimes makes me believe he gives freely of himself. He is a rare individual who contributes much more than he derives from his environment.”

After retirement in 1996, Bellman and his wife, Dr. Wanda Bellman maintained their devotion to BHSU. In 2001 they were honored as
co-recipients of the BHSU Alumni Association Special Service Award.

The winners in the composition category were: first place, Rachel Hendricks, freshman from Wilmot - “An Earned Respect: Single Parenting”; second place, Brian Engler, freshman history major from Laconia, N.H. - “Salvation in a Cardboard Wafer”; and third place, Hillary Schwab, freshman biology major from Spearfish - “I Only Stayed a Moment”. Honorable mention went to Jon Black, freshman from Rapid City - “Skills of My Life”, and Kimberly Ulmen, freshman instrumental music major from Kadoka - “Outsiders Provide Valuable Knowledge”.

The winners in the mass communications category were: first place, Dan Maher, junior business administration major from Rapid City - “New Center for Academic Success Opens on BHSU Campus”; second place, Nicole Woolridge, junior mass communications major from Huron - “Alpine Coffee Company”; and third place, Abby Jorgensen, senior mass communications major from Spearfish - “A New Breed of Trailers”. Honorable mention was awarded to Samantha Schmitz, senior mass communications major from Spearfish, “Vietnam Veterans Get Long-Awaited Homecoming”.

The humanities category winners were: first place, Cody Winchester, senior mass communications major from Pavillion, Wyo. - “From Romanticism to Nihilism: Tracking the Course of the Western Hero”; second place: Leonard Crosby, junior English major from Hot Springs - “Transparent Foliage”; and third place, Allison Coin, junior English major from Presho - “Rudyard Kipling: Commentary on the Empire”. Honorable mentions were given to: Randi Anderson, senior English major from Nisland - “Carolyn Fourche and the Fight Against a Collective Amnesia”; Allison Coin, junior English major from Presho - “Romeo and Juliet: Disparate Levels of Maturity”; and Ashley Rives, junior English major from Gillette, Wyo. - “Reciprocity in Puritan Society”.

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